The merger of two e-learning firms seen as a good sign

Two online training companies for post-acute healthcare workers have announced a merger.

Upstairs Solutions and Care2Learn will now serve 4,000 facilities nationwide and have 126 combined employees.
Upstairs Solutions Co-founder Tamar Abell, MA, CCC-SLP, LNHA, will become the president of the merged organization and answer to Tom Wallace, the chief executive officer of VectorLearning, the parent company of the new entity. Also joining the leadership team are Care2Learn's Vice President of Sales Ryan Sparks and Ken Berger, the former COO of Upstairs Solutions, who is now the vice president of operations.

“I think when you look at the industry there really is going to be no one out there that can touch [us],” Wallace said.
Nothing will change immediately for customers, but they will soon have the opportunity to gain access to both course libraries, Abell said. Soon, the companies will be transitioned into one e-learning and record-keeping system. Current maintenance agreements will be unaffected.

“We will work hard to ensure the transition is smooth and seamless for all clients,” Abell said.

The companies had been in discussions for a few years, Abell said, and the timing became right in early 2012. Wallace said Care2Learn “had its eye on Upstairs,” describing them as “the cream of the crop.”

There will be more investment in technology, including rolling out a mobile application for the iPad in the next few months. Wallace said he sees “a lot of room for growth.”

The leader of competitor Silverchair Learning Solutions, CEO Mike Mutka, said the merger was good news for the industry.

“It will make us stronger,” he said. “It tells me our competitors see a future in online learning.”

About 60,000 elderly or disabled Medicaid recipients in Louisiana are being told they should expect to lose their benefits in July, and advocates say more than a quarter of them could be forced out of the long-term care facilities they call home.